{"id":82170,"date":"2025-12-09T20:46:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T20:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/82170\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T20:46:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T20:46:25","slug":"what-to-do-in-florida-beyond-the-orange-bowl-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/82170\/","title":{"rendered":"What To Do In Florida Beyond The Orange Bowl Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you heading to Florida to watch Texas Tech battle it out in the Orange Bowl? If so, you might as well squeeze every drop out of the Sunshine State while you\u2019re there.<\/p>\n

For many Red Raiders, this may be a first-time visit to travel from Lubbock<\/a> to Florida, and it would be a real shame to fly all that way just to see a football game\u2014no matter how important that game is.<\/p>\n

To help you plan smarter, let\u2019s assume your base of operations is Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, the site of the Orange Bowl. From there, you\u2019ve got an impressive range of options, whether you\u2019re into theme parks, beaches, nightlife, science, or straight-up tropical vibes.<\/p>\n

Big-Ticket Theme Park Adventures<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the heavy hitters. Walt Disney World and Universal Studios are both located in the Orlando area, which puts them about 3 hours and 40+ minutes from Miami Gardens under ideal conditions. That\u2019s without factoring in Florida traffic, which can get intense fast\u2014especially around holidays and weekends. These parks are absolutely worth it, but realistically, they\u2019re best handled as a full-day trip or an overnight stay.<\/p>\n

Nature, Wildlife, and Island Escapes<\/p>\n

If nature is more your thing, you\u2019re in luck. Everglades National Park is only about 1 hour and 15 minutes away, offering airboat rides, wildlife, and scenery you can\u2019t find anywhere else in the country. Key Largo, the gateway to the Florida Keys, is roughly 1 hour and 30 minutes from the stadium. Want to go all the way in? Key West, the heart of the Keys experience, is about a 3.5-hour drive, and that\u2019s a conservative estimate.<\/p>\n

Science, Space, and Discovery<\/p>\n

For science fans and history buffs, the Kennedy Space Center sits at the outer edge of a manageable trip, roughly 4 hours away. If you\u2019ve ever wanted to see real rockets, space shuttles, and the birthplace of American space exploration, this one\u2019s bucket-list worthy.<\/p>\n

Beaches, Nightlife, and Culture Close to the Stadium<\/p>\n

If partying\u2014or at least relaxing with a cold drink\u2014is on your agenda, South Beach and Fort Lauderdale are both about 30 minutes away. You\u2019ll also find Bayside Marketplace and Downtown Miami around the half-hour mark, offering waterfront views, shopping, dining, and boat tours. Even closer is Wynwood Walls, about 25 minutes away, packed with street art, breweries, and a heavy dose of Miami \u201cculture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read More:\u00a0What Could $49 Million Buy In Texas? A Fun Breakdown<\/a><\/p>\n

Florida rewards the adventurous. Plan ahead, pad your travel time, and don\u2019t limit yourself to the stadium.<\/p>\n

Happy vacation\u2014and Go Tech!<\/p>\n

Some Of Our Favorite Pictures From The Texas Tech-BYU Game<\/p>\n

Texas Tech dominated BYU on Saturday in what was a battle of two top ten teams in Lubbock. And roaming the sidelines were some great professional photographers that took some great pictures. Below are some of our favorite pictures from Saturday’s game.<\/p>\n

Gallery Credit: Chad Hasty<\/p>\n

Texas Tech’s Tortilla Throwing Tradition<\/p>\n

Gallery Credit: Topher Covarrubio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Are you heading to Florida to watch Texas Tech battle it out in the Orange Bowl? If so,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169],"class_list":{"0":"post-82170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lubbock","8":"tag-lubbock","9":"tag-lubbock-headlines","10":"tag-lubbock-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}